the cox's

We're having a...

2012-02-15T08:36:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!! Kenley and I had our 20 week apt yesterday and we were both super excited to find out the sex of our lil baby, luckily everything worked out so we were able to tell the sex ;) Our little girl is growing right on track, her size puts our due date only 3 days ahead of schedule (July 3rd from July 6) nothing major so the doctor didn't change my due date. Our little girl is healthy and has all 10 fingers, 10 toes, and most importantly her heart, and kidney's are working perfectly.

Before the nurse started the ultrasound she gave us a rundown on what she was going to be checking for on the baby, but before she could finish I had to ask her if she could please tell us the gender - I was dying to know! So first thing she did was look to see what our baby was, I know this picture makes the lil one a little...exposed but it clearly shows GIRL ;) (This is looking up at her butt, showing the bottom of her thighs - and there is NOTHING between the legs - GIRL!!!)

Here is a picture of the side of her face...so adorable ;) We were lucky to finally get one, majority of the time she had her little arms in front of her face.

Here is her her right leg - you can see her foot and little toes - I LOVE IT ;)

Ok, I felt that

2012-01-30T14:51:00.000-08:00

Last night as I was lathering up with lotion on my preggo belly, I thought to myself "hum I wonder if I can feel our little baby yet?" So I decided to try moving my belly to see if I could notice any movement from within. Only a few seconds after trying, I FELT THE BABY MOVE! The baby and I kept this on for about 15 minutes until I think the baby got tired of our game and quit moving for me ;)
I have to say it was such a neat experience and I wished so bad that I could have known what our baby was - but our next apt is only a 15 days away! (Gotta learn to be patient, right!?!)

Me at 17 weeks ;)

Hey baby, are you a BOY or GIRL?????

2012-01-23T09:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a doctor's apt 2 weeks ago, and we were at the point where we could have found out what the sex of our baby was (YAY) but our stubborn little baby was laying there with it's legs crossed. We tried to get the baby to move into another position so we could see "the goods" or not. But that was no such luck.
Our next apt is actually on Valentine's Day and it's our big 20 week apt with the 3D ultrasound and such. So we are sure to find out that day. I am so anxious to find out what the baby is. I want to start shopping for baby clothes and crib bedding and start looking through paint samples for the nursery. But I guess I will just have to wait until Valentine's Day ;) So as soon as I know, I will be sure to let you know as well!!!
P.S. Sorry I forgot the ultrasound pictures from our last apt. to scan and post them on the blog, but I'll remember to do it for our next apt. ;) I have to say, it was pretty neat to see a baby, the past ultrasounds it has always been a blob. But you could see legs, arms, a face, the spin, everything but the private parts ;)

~I'M PREGNANT~

2011-11-14T09:35:00.009-08:00

So I have been wanting to post this for what seems like forevernow, but both Ken and I wanted to wait a while to make sure everything was ok with ourlittle baby first! (Wow, our baby!!!)

Well, I wanted to share with you the story of how I found out I was pregnant ;) ;)

It all started onHalloween morning (neat how Kenley proposed on Halloween and then we find outwe were pregnant on Halloween - what a good holiday for us!)
I was late, buthonestly didn't think much of it because that happens sometimes. But Kenley kept telling me for quite sometime, he just thought I was. Ididn't believe him and so I decided to take a home pregnancy test to put the comments to rest. After-all I was expecting this process to take a few months, little did I know! As I waited for the result I continued doing myhair and make-up totally forgetting the test was waiting to tell me"PREGNANT." Quite a while later I looked down and saw the test "oh ya" I thought to myself only to see the word not two words but theeword. PREGNANT! I was in shock. I couldn't believe that it was real and I was soexcited that I was going to be a mother!
I contemplated on calling Kenley, butdecided this was our FIRST and I wanted to tell him face to face rather than arandom phone call. (just my opinion)
So I went to work and to be sure it really was true, I hadto take yet another pregnancy test. Thankfully it still read “Pregnant” and Iknew this really was happening.

I called Kenley that afternoon and asked him to stop by my work because Ineeded him for something. He was confused but being a great husband he is, he did just as I asked. When hefound out we both cried from excitement and probably a little from being scaredtoo! (I am going to be a mom!)

We had our first doctors apt on 11/11/11 and it was an excitingyet scary one. When she started the ultrasound I didn’t know what I was lookingfor but for some weird reason I couldn’t find it.
My doctor also had a confused look on her face and didn’tsay anything at first which then led me to freak out even more. A few moments she asked if anotherdoctor could come in for a second opinion.
There I was lying on that bed thinking, NO, please NO. I was incredibly heartbroken and wasn’tready to hear the horrible news. I knew this was always a possibility but I still wasn't ready for it. I did all I could to keep those tears back, but as my doctor kept moving the camera around suddenly we all saw it!!! (I don't know if this is TMI but I guess my uterus is tilted and so she was lookingat my ovary and that’s why we didn’t see anything…weird but whatever.)
Anyway, we got to hear thelittle heartbeat and I just cried! I was so excited that I really was pregnant and that Kenley and I were going to be parents!

Although, at our first appointment we did find out I wasn’t as far along as we thought. Before the ultrasound wethought I was somewhere around 7 weeks and some odd days but from the ultrasound I was only 5 weeks and 5 days!

Which makes our due date: July 6, 2012

Experiencing the "sacrifices of motherhood" already! I have been EXTREMELY sick. To be honest, as of right now I'm more excited to get over this morning sickness. Morning sickness that lasts all day every day! I've been on some medication to help with the sickness - it doesn't take it way but man it sure helps. Instead of 12 times a day I'm only about 5 or so now. Not bad!!!

I wanted to give a special thanks to my amazing husband. I have been so tired and so sick lately and he has taken over everything. He gets up earlier to make sure I eat a healthy breakfast (even if I can't always keep it down). He's cleaning and cooking all the time now and I'm so lucky to have a husband so helpful and understanding!

P.S. Today I am in my 12th week of pregnancy and our little one is about the size of a lime!!!

Christmas Tree

2011-11-14T09:35:00.005-08:00

I love Christmas time! I love Christmas tree's all decorated and lit up...such a fun time of year ;)

Merry Christmas

2011-11-14T09:35:00.003-08:00

Kenley has been having such a fun time this holiday season - I just had to show you all of his.... excitement!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/sJbFGX8DFEq7MQdb

Zacch & Connie Pettigrew

2011-11-14T09:35:00.001-08:00

Yesterday some of our dearest friends were married in the Bountiful Temple. Zacch & Kenley have been best friends since elementary school. A few years ago, Zacch was baptized and became a member of the church. Kenley actually got to baptize him, then last Friday Zacch went through the Temple to have his endowments out, and Kenley got to be his escort. Then for the Wedding yesterday Kenley got to be one of the Witnesses for the ceremony. All experiences were really neat for Kenley, and he was so grateful that he could have been there for Zacch throughout it all.
Yesterday they had a small and sweet ceremony. I have to say, it was quite interesting how different it was at the Bountiful Temple in November compared to my June Wedding in the Salt Lake Temple. I remember the Bridal room full of June brides, and then yesterday, helping Connie with her dress, it was - just us in the Bridal room. It was a neat experience and we wish them the best in everything. I was able to get a few pictures of Zacch and Connie on their amazing day! Aww, I love weddings ;) Congrats Zacch & Connie

Zacch & Connie

11.22.11

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-14T09:34:00.001-08:00

Ya, so I am a Twilight nerd, and I love it ;) At midnight this morning I went and saw the new Breaking Dawn movie, and I have to say...it was amazing. I know it's new so I love it for that, but I really think this movie might be their best yet. Each movie seems to get better and better!

Right now I really cant think of what I didn't necessarily like or thought they should have changed. The graphics, music, acting were done exceptionally well. I seriously loved this movie, and I hope everyone else who enjoys the Twilight saga movies - gets a chance to see Breaking Dawn part 1 soon!

Ghostly Greetings!

2011-11-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

We hope you all had a Spooktakular Halloween!

We had a lot of help from friends and family on carving - we were able to do a total of 165 pumpkins this year (not bad, not bad!) As always it was fun Halloween this year!

Here we are setting up the pumpkins before dark

We still cant forget our exciting Halloween 4 years ago when Kenley proposed to me. I don't know how we will ever get to top that off ;)

Sorry, I took some of the pictures when it was still a little light outside. But I hope you still like them

My niece Olivia, did the Phineas and Ferb pumpkins and Kenley did Perry the Platapus ;) Big hit this year with the kids!

Katy did the Scooby Doo pumpkins this year, which was a great idea because her family was the Scooby Doo characters for Halloween! I wish I got pictures of their costumes but I totally forgot

Meredith was Velma

Katy was Shaggy

George as Scooby-Doo

Olivia as Daphne

and Nate as Fred

Angry Birds ;)

Another new one this year - Where's Waldo?

As always I did my Twilight saga this year ;)

So I made a tutu for Amora. We were going to bring her down with us on Halloween in her cute little costume. Kenley said he is just so glad she's a girl dog wearing a tutu and not a boy dog! I told him if she were a male, I would make a boyish costume for her ;) Hahaha, I love it!!!

lake powell...again

2011-10-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

last weekend we went down to lake powell again. kenley wanted to do some fishing with his dad and i wanted to get the last little bit of vitamin d i could before the winter season arrives. it was a lot of fun, super relaxing and great weather. kenley and preston would say that the fishing could have been better but it was still fun to be out and spend time together.

we couldn't believe that just this next weekend we will be doing our pumpkin carving. wow this year has flown by. i will defiantly post pictures of the pumpkins this weekend. im getting really excited for the holiday

as we were fishing we the water ended but the canyon kept going, so we went out and followed the trail! it was so beautiful

i cant remember right, but i believe this is called water cave...

while we were out, we had to go see the defiance house. strange to think people used to live up there!

steep stairs?

imagine walking outside and this is your view!

happy that he caught a striper

preston & I went for a little hike up the canyon, it was steep but way fun!

don't know what this face is but i love it ;) hehe

lake powell 2011

2011-10-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

well it has come and gone again. our annual trip to lake powell this year was a BLAST. everyone was able to go which i was way excited about. cort and hayley just had madden back in july so they were unsure if they should come this year with having such a young baby on board, luckily they ended up coming and it was so great to have the family together for a week. i loved being able to spend time with my nieces and nephews. it was a great week with amazing weather and it sure made it hard to leave at the end of the week

we actually stayed at the same beach we did last year. it was weird to see how different yet similar the place looked with the water being up 23 feet from last year.

meredith made her own little shade under an umbrella (i love how her seat is a towel on a tote lid...so silly)

mel & olivia in pink swimmers

mel & meredith

sleeping madden

hayley & zoey

ken playing with george & zoey

happy zoey

preston out fishing in our cove

cort, ken, nate & the kids built this awesome sand castle

ken & me at lake powell 2011

relaxing on the beach

fun in the sun

ken playing with olivia & meredith

i caught a fish!

zoey playing on the beach

george loved the water-balloons

thumbs up to a great day at powell

cort, hayley, zoey & madden

mel, olivia & meredith

cort taking zoey for a ride on the jetski

(love this picture)

cort & baby madden

driving the houseboat back to the marina

until next year...see ya lata' lake powell ;)

Our Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T14:36:00.000-07:00

Kenley and Amora went backpacking over the Holiday weekend. They left Saturday early morning and didn't return until Monday evening. With 3 full days of no work, I decided I was going to need a project to occupy my time, so of course I decided I needed to paint. (I love painting!)

I've been contemplating over which color to do. And if you know me, I am the worst at making decisions so this whole process was actually going on for a couple of months now. Plus with Kenley gone all weekend, it would be the perfect time to do it- luckily I had some help from Kate, Connie! (Thanks so much for all your help!!!)

This was my insperation for my room colors - I fell in-love with this and went from there

Not decorated yet, but I LOVE the room so much I couldn't wait to show you ;)

Friday night we put Amora's pack on her to let her get used to the weight for a while

So excited ;)

2011-09-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

Twilight Breaking Dawn

So excited for Part 1 of Breaking Dawn!!!

Camping with Amora

2011-09-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we headed up to the Unita Mountains to do some camping. We brought Amora up with us, and me met Kenley's parents up there. Wow! Amora LOVES LOVES LOVES to swim. She loves water. At home when the sprinklers are on in the yard, she is all dog and trys to eat the water coming out - what a goof ;) She will run and play through the sprinklers anytime they are on. So we knew she liked water but we found a river with some deeper area's for her to swim - and thats all she did!
I worked on some crafts up camping and Kenley did a lot of training with her. He and his friends are talking about going on another backpacking trip and he's planning on taking Amora with them. So Kenley had fun preparing Amora backpacking by putting her lil PupPack on her. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of her lil pack but I will when they go - promise!

I just love the view

Kenley would throw sticks into the river and Amora would HAVE to go get them - what dog could resist that ;)

Amora swimming

Us ;)

Amora also LOVED the Rino rides. She would sit up front by my feet usually but she had just gotten in the river and was soaked - so I rode in the back ;)

Ready for another Rino ride

Kenley and Amora

P.S. This post does tend to make me seem like I'm some crazy dog lover - I want you all to know I'm really not like that, true, I do love OUR pup - she's our baby (for now). And I don't think I'm CRAZY (about that anyway)

My favorite lil waterfall - I've posted about this waterfall a few years back but I love waterfalls (even man-made small ones like this)

St. George

2011-08-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last week Kenley and I took a short trip down to St. George for a few days with some friends. It was fun. Luckily we didn't stay in St. George too much so we didn't get much of the heat. We went to the Grand Canyon, to Jacob Lake and the St. George Temple. Another favorite of mine for this trip was going to the Pasta Factory! WOW that place is the best, I wish there were more Pasta Factory's around home instead of the Pizza Factory. But all in all, it was lots of fun!!!

We stopped at In&Out on the way down to St. George - I got my fries Animal Style! WOW soooo good!

Rainbow 1, Rainbow 2

JACOB LAKE

GRAND CANYON

Not just a hole in the ground - it's much more than that!

ST. GEORGE TEMPLE

Is it just us - or does the St. George Temple look so much Whiter than the others!?! Maybe is the blazing sun ;)

That's Life

2011-03-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I have totally been slacking on the posts. To be fair - life is CRAZY. Crazy busy and full of sleepless nights. I thought of doing a long blog of what has been going on these past few months but...I'm sure everyone else has their share of stressful days. So no need for me to go on and on about mine.

So onto the fun part, Kenley got a new puppy for his birthday this year. She is so cute but a lot of work. Kenley has been keeping up on teaching and training her and so far she's doing so great. Her name is Amora. She is a full-bred Labrador. When we went to see the puppies a few weeks back, we had a hard time figuring out what puppy would be best. How do you decide such a thing? Luckily the breeder had done this before so each puppy after birth was given a color for their collar so she, and everyone else for that matter could tell who, was who.

Each female lab was named after princesses and the males were named after Greek god's. (way cute idea) After being around the puppies for only a few minutes the one with the orange collar came up to us and stayed with us the entire time. She was so cute. We both liked how white she was for being a yellow lab.

So a few days later we went and got Kenley's new lil puppy Amora Anastasia when she was 9 weeks old and this Saturday she will be already be 13 weeks!

A Spooktakular Halloween

2010-11-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

We had a great turnout for our annual pumpkin carving party. It's always great to have a lot of help while visiting with friends and family. This year our total carved pumpkins was only 154 - a lil short from last years total but still...a good amount.

While carving pumpkins Friday night - I happend to walk outside and saw this amazing sunset!

Something new...Sky and Ken did a totem pole with the pumpkins - turned out great!

Gollum from Lord of the Rings

Some dude from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Jack Black

A guy from 30 Rock

Kenley, Zacch and Josh did an XBOX theme. All of which are characters from games on the XBOX

Of course, I did my Twilight saga again. Josh again helped me. He did all the book covers for me and I think it turned out great this year!!!

For Halloween my niece Zoey was a lil kitty - so adorable

Goeorge was a handsome lil devil and Meri and Liv were witches - so so cute!

2010-10-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

A Fun Weekend With My Family

I had a great weekend with my family, it was the twin's birthday so Jen and James had a lil party for them on Saturday. I loved how she got a cake for both Kaden and Kenzie but it was actually one cake. It was so cute. I can't believe how fast they have grown. Happy Birthday Kaden
Happy Birthday MakenzieCute lil Makayla The cute newlyweds My silly daddy-o was having fun with Kaden's toysMakayla & Mel Playing ring-around-the rosiesAsh and I playin Hands Up - Stands Up!

Hee hee I haven't played these games in years, it was so much fun bring out the childness in us James playing Rocket with Kaden - I can't believe how high he would get Kaden Seeing how my two older sisters both live an hour away from me but only like 10 minutes from one another I had to go see Bec and her family too. I miss seeing them, I wish they all lived closer, aww I miss those days.

Emma was learning how to ride her bike without training wheels on! I was lucky enough to be there to watch her. It was great.

At first, Emma took no intrest in her new bike without training wheels. She instantly could have cared less to learn, until Jeff promised Emma that if she did this - he would take her dress shopping. Emma already being a "girly girl" got right on that bike and rode on it with no fear. After she got done riding - she came up to me and said "Melissa, I get to go dress shopping now!"

Adorable lil Emma

Seth had to get on the action of riding his bike with no training wheels either - he did great!

Emma & Aaron

2010-10-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Lake Powell 2010

This year at Powell we had perfect weather every day. Though Kenley and my father in-law thought it was a titch too warm, it was perfect for layin out and playin in the water weather. I had a blast spending time with my neices and nephew. Being an aunt is the best.
Kenley coming back from an early morning fishing trip with his dad

Getting the houseboat ready to head home

cookbook

2010-09-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

So as you may, or may not, know - I love to cook. I love to bake. I really find a joy in making something delicious. Every Friday evening when Ken has his friends over, I take advantage of those hungry men and use them as my ginnie pigs. Last night my friend, Connie, and I made homemade cinnamon rolls. Never made them beofre so it was new for both of us, but they turned out wonderfully! Reallly not as hard as I thought it would be. We had a ton of fun!

So I found this cute lil "blonde cookbook" and I couldn't resist sharing this with you. (hope you find a lil humor in this as I did)

MONDAY - It's fun to cook for Bob. Today I made angel food cake. The recipe said beat 12 eggs separately. The neighbors were nice enough to loan me the extra bowls.

TUESDAY - He wanted fruit salad for supper. The recipe said serve without dressing. So I didn't dress. What a surprise when he brought a friend home for supper.

WEDNESDAY - A good day for rice. The recipe said wash thoroughly before steaming the rice. It seemed kind of silly but I took a bath anyway. I can't say it improved the rice any.

THURSDAY - Today he asked for salad, again I tried a new recipe. It said prepare ingredients; lay on a bed of lettuce one hour before serving. Asked me why I was rolling around in the garden...

FRIDAY - I found an easy recipe for cookies. It said put the ingredients in a bowl and beat it... There must have been something wrong with this recipe. When I got back, everything was the same as when I left.

SATURDAY - He did the shopping today and brought home a chicken. He asked me to dress it for Sunday. I don't have any clothes that fit it, and for some reason he keeps counting to ten.

SUNDAY - I wanted to serve roast but all I had was hamburger. Suddenly I had a flash of genius..I put the hamburger in the oven and set the controls for roast. It still came out hamburger, much to my disappointment.

GOOD NIGHT DEAR DIARY. This has been a very exciting week! I am eager for tomorrow so I can try out a new recipe. If I can talk him into buying a bigger oven, I would like to surprise him with a chocolate moose.

Fun in the Sun in San Diego

2010-09-13T20:42:00.001-07:00

Ken had to go to San Diego last week for another convention but this time, I got to go too! The first few days were kinda...long at the convention thing and all but after we attended those, we got to have a nice fun vaca in southern California.
The first day I got a lil nervous. It was cold, wet, cloudy and looked as though there was no hope for the sun to shine. But luckily I was wrong. The whole rest of the trip was perfect weather. We had so much fun going to the beach and Sea World. Ahh, it was like our 2nd Honeymoon. We had a ton of fun in the sun.
Ken walking around the convention

I'm amazed at the simplest thing...ex: a flower that is taller than me.

It was different, here in Utah majority of the nursery's are on flat ground, but it Cali it was different seeing them spread over the hills.

On our way down to San Diego we found the beach! Ken has NEVER seen the ocean before. (any ocean) So it was a lot of fun for him to finally be out on the beach.

Ok - so I totally look like a nugget in this picture but it was quite funny. We were standing on the beach with the ocean behind us to get a pix of us together (see picture above) but as we were in the middle of snapping away a nice big wave came and splashed us and we got SOAKED. It was great to get our reactions to the cold water hitting us.

San Diego Temple - I LOVE it

Here is our hotel we stayed in, in San Diego

And now...Sea World

Sunday morning getting ready for our flight home :(

Before we officially ended our vaca, we had to go to The Cheesecake Factory! Ahh I'm just glad we have one closer to home.

Where do I begin?

2010-08-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, lets see...today has been a lil difficult. One, it's my last day of "summer" technically seeing how Monday I start night classes. In a way, I'm excited to be hopefully graduating next spring, however doing so will require 15 credit hours this semester and next. Which means for the next 7 months I will be doing nothing but school and work. This semester I have classes Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Saturday morning, and an online class!!! (Grr) Luckily Ken went through this so he knows how crazy busy I will be and has promised to be the "man of the house" making dinners and such. So that helps knowing that I have him helping me.

On another note, these past couple of weeks I haven't been able to eat anything. I wouldn't get like nauseated sick or anything but my stomach would just HURT. I would have 2 bites of something and just hurt. So finally after a few weeks I went to the doctor and had some tests done and my Doc's thinking it is an Ulcer. (Ahh great!) So I'm hoping to get rid of this thing before school starts. So the Doc gave me some medication and in a month I go back to see if it's healed, and if I'm still hurting and things aren't better then there is a possibility it could be my Gallbladder. So I'm hoping this medication helps, so far it's done ok. I had a few bad days and other good days so what that means?!?

And to the sad part of my update. I get a call from my lil sis late Monday night. The first thing she says, in tears mind you, is: "Have Mom or Dad called you?" (Ahh great!) Well that evening when my Dad got home from work our dog, Molly, started acting crazy. One eye moving left to right and the other up and down. And because of her dizziness it caused nausea and other sicknesses. So they took Molly to the vet who told them that either she has a sickness that all old bigger dogs get or it's a brain tumor. So they gave her some meds and told them to give her 72 hours and HOPEFULLY the virus will be gone. We'll yesterday I get a call from my mom who informs me that Molly hasn't gotten better. Her crazy eyes have stopped but she hasn't had anything to eat or drink in 5 days. So they called the vet, who said that it meant that her organs are shutting down. So they had planned to take her in later that night and no longer let Molly suffer. So I took off work a lil early and went and spent some time with her. I got a lil hopeful because when I arrived at my parents, my Dad said Molly had eaten a small amount and had a lil to drink. So they canceled taking her in because she was doing just a lil better. And we were hoping it was a sign.
But, early this morning I got a phone call from my mom and she let me know that they put Molly down. She didn't keep down her food or water she had tried to eat yesterday and when they took her to the vet this morning they pretty much confirmed that her organs were shutting down and that her blood pressure was incredibly low. So they decided to let Molly not be in pain anymore. Now she's in a better place running and playing and doesn't feel sick anymore.
I loved my lil pup. She was a great dog these past 14 years and I'm just glad that we could give her a good home while she was here.

"Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains un awakened."

Can you guess, what this post is about?

2010-08-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well last weekend, we went....camping! Yes, again. Hee hee ha. This trip was a lil different for us. We went with my in-laws and Cort, Hay, and Zoey to a place that we've never been before. So the scenery was completely different. We stayed next to Sheep Creek Lake. It was beautiful!

Sheep Creek Lake at sunset

I love waterfalls!
Preston cleaning the Rhino in the lake

2010-08-05T12:58:00.000-07:00

For years I have been inlove with the beach cruiser bikes. About a year ago my neice, Olivia, recived one - a child size of course. Even though she's only 8, my short height of only being 5 feet tall, almost made that bike the perfect size for me. I got looking online for one, couldn't ever find the "perfect" one. But then, I found this cute one from my neighbor. Who knew it would be that simple? I've been on a bike ride every night after I get home from work.

Allsop

2010-08-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned Kenley's backpacking trip. He, Cort, Eric, and Sky went backpacking for a few days up to Allsop. I finally got some pictures of his trip so I thought I'd post them.
It looks so beautiful up there.

Finally!

2010-07-28T16:39:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, this past week was awful. Ken was out of town last week. It was thee most time we've ever spent apart, and I hated it. Ok so here was his week, we got home on Sunday from camping with Cort and Hayley. Early Tuesday morning Kenley's flight left for Oregon for a Perennial Plant Association Convention thing. So he and Kent (a co-worker) enjoyed 50 degree weather while we got our lovely high 90's - totally jealous about that. Thursday night Ken flew in at like 11pm. Luckily I had work off Friday for the Holiday, however Ken didn't. But it all worked out because he only worked for a few hours in the morning. Then he and I met my dad at Five Guys. Oh my gosh that place is so delicious and my dad hasn't ever been there so we had to take him. (Oh so good) Alrighty so Saturday morning Ken left for a backpacking trip with his brother Cort, Cort's brother in-law, and my cousin Sky. He spent the next few days backpacking with the guys and didn't get home until Monday night. Finally, FINALLY my babe is home...until his next work trip. Ahh I've been spoiled not having Kenley leave too often, after being in Sales and all. Oh, I missed you babe!!!

Did I ever mention...

2010-07-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

...that we liked camping?

Two weekends ago we were up camping with the Cox fam. While there Hayley and Ken talked about how easy it would be to go camping the next weekend - seeing how we'd have a lot packed from that trip already.
So this past weekend we did just that. Cort, Hay, lil Zoey, Ken and I headed up to the mountains after work Friday and enjoyed yet another few days up there.
Cute lil family

Here's my babe out river fishing. (can you find him?)

Ken in his fishing vest!

I still can't get over her beautiful blue eyes - she's so adorable.

Camping...again

2010-07-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

I love camping! We just got back from another camping trip...this one with the Cox Family. Ken and I arrived Wednesday evening and the sky was seriously this golden color. It was beautiful. It made everything have this glow to it. I wish we had more days how this one was. And later that evening there was a pretty sweet sunset

George playin in his wagon

Out for an evening walk Cort, Hayley, and Zoey going for a 4-wheeler ride

Ken's cousin, Corbin, just got this cute lil puppy so he brought her camping with us

Mel & Zoey

Ok, so 4-wheeling I do. But riding a motorcycle...never done, until now. My brother in-law brought up this bike that was the perfect size for me. It was a BLAST. And surprisingly a lot less scarier than I thought it would be. Ahh, I totally want one now.

It was lil Zoey's first time camping and she loved it, she had so much fun up there.

Kenley carving "10" on our special tree

She's such a doll

Mommy and sleeping Zoey

Garrett and Camille have the cutest 4 boys in the world. She's like my idol mom, 4 boys that are extremely well behaved.

Another beautiful sunset in the mountains

Missy brought up hundreds of glow sticks for the kids to entertain themselves with while we sit around the campfire. The last night we were there the kids decided to connect all the rest of the sticks together. (I know it is hard to see in the picture but hopefully you can kinda see the strand of glow sticks) It ended up being 73 feet long

Me...busy? (huh)

2010-07-04T15:35:00.001-07:00

Endowments

Last week Ashley went through the Temple for her Endowment session. It was amazing. My parents were there with us 4girls and our hubbies (with the exception of one "soon to be" hubby). Family hugs in the Celestial Room, need I say more?

Kenley and I had our 2 year Anniversary on June 27

We have been married for 2 years! It's crazy because when I think of my life with Kenley it seems like we've been together so much longer than that. I'm sure it has to do with the fact that we've technically been "together" for 7 years now. I met Kenley when he was only 15 and I just 16. It truly seems like forever ago, but I am so grateful that I've had him a part of my life all these years. And look forward to our lives Together Forever.

My lil sis got married!

Ashley & Jeremy Hull

Sealed in the Salt Lake Temple July 1, 2010

My Family

Sisters!!!

I Love being an Aunt

It was really neat, my Uncle Kevin just got put in as one of the Seventies, so he was able to Seal Ashley and Jeremy in the Temple. What a great experience.

ECLIPSE

Eclipse came out last week!!! And I LOVE it, I'm quite the Twilight fan and out of all 4 books Eclipse was my least favorite. I still loved it but the other 3 were so much better - my opinion. However the movie is a completely different story! I LOVED, LOVED this one. I left the theaters not thinking that any part should have been done differently. Ah Twilight rocks!

If any of you are going to see Eclipse I strongly recommend reading this book. It helps you understand so much more of Bree Tanner in the movie.

Tent trailor

2010-06-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Ken and I were able to go camping and use our tent trailor for the first time! Brant and Marcus came with us and it was a ton of fun. We relaxed, fished, played games, and just enjoyed the smell of fresh pine high in the mountains.

Brant getting us some firewood

Marcus bought this neat lil truck-tent. It worked out really nice for him!

Cookin breakfast! (yummy)

Teachin me how to shoot the gun

On our way out fishing we had to cross the river, ha ha right, well I really don't have the best balance so Ken and Marcus had to help me find an "easier" spot to cross

This bike was just my size!

My babe out fishin

(It was interesting to watch Brant cross the river with a cast on his foot)

Playin some card games...

We had a ton of fun playin some poker and bettin our snacks we brought

All the guys brought up some of their guns so Saturday night we had fun shooting them...I had a blast!

The following are pictures of our camp fire, if you haven't noticed, Kenley was having fun messing around with our camera

Our cute lil tent trailor

Brant, Kenley, and Marcus just before we left to come home

Ashley's Bridal Shower

2010-06-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ashley & Jeremy

soon to be married - July 1, 2010

The Bride to be
Rebecca, Jen, & Mel

Ash & Amy

Amy made this adorable pillow, I love it!

Makayla, Emma & Mel

2 cute lil girls

Ash and Baby Rachel

Me and my Granny

Ok cute story: when my niece, Emma, was younger she didn't understand the difference between Grandma "Cook" and "cookies/cooking" therefore my Granny now has the nickname "Granma Cookie!"

Jen and her twins, MaKenzie and Kaden

Aaron

Immediately after walking inside Aaron, like his mother, had to take off his shoes and socks. Loves the bare feet!

Seth

Grandpa Love

So my lil sis is getting married this month! It's crazy to think that I'm as old as I am but for some reason it's even crazier that she's not my lil sis I need to watch over in school anymore. She's a beautiful young woman who will soon be gettin hitched.

Saturday was her bridal shower, and sadly three days later, I am finally getting around to posting this. Well - congrats Ash! I'm so happy for you and Jeremy!

Uinta Mountains

2010-06-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took a drive up in the Uinta's, because we just purchased a tent trailer this past week and now we have camping fever. We cannot wait to go up, unfortunately we were too busy this past weekend to stay over a couple of nights. So all we could do was drive around and try and look for a great camping spot "hopefully" for next weekend.
Oh my gosh it was beautiful up there! And the Bear River was freakin flowin! As Kenley would say: " that river is roarin' "

Driving through the river...

This cloud looks like...

My fist and thumb

It was hot outside. Even with 3 feet of snow I was perfectly warm in my shorts and flip flops

if you build it they will come...

2010-06-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

...ha ha that title is so cheesy but it's so true for what went on this week!
Ken and I were called to be the Gardening Specialist for our Ward. What's a Gardening Specialist you ask? Well apparently our entire Stake has a huge farm area where they divide the rows up for each Ward. So Kenley and I are in charge of 3 - 500 foot rows for our ward. We get to choose what to plant, when to plant, and to give those plants the proper TLC they need.
This week we had our ward plant some tomatoes, corn, beans, zucchini, squash, cucumbers and potatoes. It was a great turnout! It will be great to see how everything grows over these next few months.
This calling is probably the absolute perfect calling for Ken. He was in charge of planting and maintain his parents garden ever since he was like 10 so, Ken he really is incredibly knowledgeable on gardening.

it's that time of year...

2010-05-22T16:33:00.001-07:00

...when we get to add flowers and beautiful color to our yard! Oh I love it.

update...

2010-05-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Melissa, Hayley and Katy took me shopping, all day for my Birthday! It was so fun! We started out at Gateway and for most the day but then with my leftover b-day money I had we headed down to IKEA where I spent the rest of my money...and more. (There's always so much I can find from IKEA) My Birthday wasn't until Monday but it was great to have a day with the girls and shop. I seriously cannot believe I am 24. It's crazy to think back with I was a young teenager and imagined where I'd be at this age.

For Mother's Day we had dinner with the Cox Family. It was a great day to celebrate our wonderful Mother's and Grandmother's and visit with them all.

Happy Mother's Day!

Graduation

2010-04-24T08:21:00.001-07:00

Finally, FINALLY he is done!
Kenley graduated this Friday from Weber State University with a Bachelors degree in Technical Sales - with Honors!

Kenley and I are thrilled for him to finally be done with school. We can't wait for this summer to go anywhere we want, with no homework and school keeping us back at home. I am so proud of you Ken!

Prior to the Graduation Ceremony we attended the Commencemet with President Monson as the guest speaker.

Congrats Babe!

What do you see?

2010-04-09T19:28:00.000-07:00

Ken and I got this picture for Christmas 2 years ago (don't know why I didn't post this then but...)

So, what do you see? Majority of the people that see this picture first notice the car. While it is an amazing car - that's not the reason we were given this picture.

This picture is our home back in 1910. Sitting in the car is Kenley's great-great grandfather who built our home. This is him and his family, so the crazy thing is not how many members are actually is in his family but that they all lived in this house! We only have 3 bedrooms in our home! (wow)

This is our house 100 years later :
We're remodeling our house bit by bit, and one thing we really want to change is to make the exterior look more like the "original" version. By adding the dark fish scale siding on the upper-level of the house. Plus add the dark edging around the house and windows...one of these days we'll get there.

Mia & Missa

2010-04-06T16:49:00.001-07:00

The past year I was able to watch Mia while Missy worked and I'm so bumbed because last week was my last time with Mia for a while. Starting up at P-Faves will be full-time, especially for the summer. I loved watching Mia learn and grow over the months. She's a doll and I'm going to miss her! Missy did tell me I could spend time with her after work and even during the weekends so I am really looking forward for the next time I get to see her. She's so cute.

Over the months I took a few pictures of some of the things we'd do together...

washin' herself in the tubby

static hair

going down the slide by herself

sippin' her sippy

beautiful blue eyes

mia & missa

luv 2 swing

flower girl

getting sleepy on the swing windy walk

Easter

2010-04-05T21:24:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful Easter with the Family, I loved watching my nieces and nephew on their Easter Egg Hunt. It was lil George's and Zoey's first Easter this year so it was really a fun year watching them.
Meredith and Olivia love their "Uncle Kenny" they always want Kenley to push them on the swing. They especially love it when he twists them and makes them spin like crazy in their swings.
Poor Olivia spun so much that when she tried walking she was so dizzy that she walked right into the tree! Luckily she didn't get hurt - it just made her laugh harder. I wish I had a video camera for that moment.

Getting reading for the Easter Egg Hunt

Ready - Set - GO

Happy Birthday Kenley

2010-03-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday was my dear sweet Husbands Birthday and he turned 23! For Kenley's birthday we went out to eat with the Family at a restaurant called Holy Smoke. It's an amazing BBQ place here in Layton that Ken has fallin in love with. So after dinner the family came back to our house where we opened presents and had cake and ice cream, it was a ton of fun because Kenley was completely surprised about his big gift. This year Kenley's gift was part of his birthday and graduation put together; seeing how Kenley's graduation is a month away I figured he could get it on his Birthday.

This year I found Kenley a new Zero-turn Lawn Mower!!! Now that may not sound that incredibly exciting but if you'd used the old ones we had tried to fix up - break on us in the middle of summer - and even almost blow up on me....Yeah it was incredibly exciting. (Especially when using a push mower took us over 6 hours to mow our acre yard.)I wanted to get something that would make Kenley's life a lil' easier and now he wont have to spend hours and hours trying to fix an old beater up. I am so proud of Kenley and all the hard work he's done to graduate with his Bachelor's Degree at only 23! He's never taken a Semester of school off since he was 5. He's worked so hard going to school full-time and working full-time. He is always been such a hard worker and I am so proud of all the hard work he's done. And in 5 short weeks he will be completely finished with school forever.
Good job babe and Happy Birthday. I Love You!!!

Kitchen remodeling part 2

2010-03-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

One afternoon I was thinking about how much Kenley and I have changed our house since we first bought it. I started looking through some old pictures of when we first walked through the house; before we purchased it. It surprised me how different everything looked and how we still had so much left to do. Then I walked into the kitchen and saw my cupboards and realized, why they do look 10 times better than before, the color wasn't what I wanted. So I spent this past weekend painting the cupboards in my kitchen to the color I wanted What do you think?

A look at the kitchen before we remodeled anything...

A look at our kitchen after we remodeled part 1...

And after remodeling part 2....

I want to give a big thanks to Cort and Hayley. I've been trying to get this rod theme in my kitchen and because of them everything is now complete! This table actually used to be theirs and Hayley decided the rod table just didn't go with her theme in her house anymore so they got a new table and gave us this beautiful one! I love it so much. Everything ties is so well now. Thanks Cort and Hayley!!!

Mia, Mia, Mia

2010-02-26T11:34:00.000-08:00

I have so much fun spending time with Mia, it's amazing to see how fast a child learns and grows.

Mia LOVES the park and since the weather has been cold we hadn't been able to go these past few months. Well this week turned out warm enough for us to walk to the park. Mia sure loves the going down the slide.

Mia also loves our little kitty, Popcorn. She will follow the kitty around all day, lately she has been calling Popcorn - orange kitty!

Mia will be 2 this April and lately I've notice her pick up more words in her little vocabulary, and some words that she says are just way too cute! So the other day I walked into the room where Mia was, she turns saw me and said "hello gorgeous, how are you?" Oh my gosh it was so cute!

st. george weekend getaway

2010-02-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

my uncle lives down in st. george and he has this amazing guest house that he offered anyone in my family to use. seeing how kenley is starting to get busy with school and graduation coming up, and down at his work with spring time coming soon; i figured it would be great to get away for a weekend before all the hustle and bustle happened these next few months.
as we were planning our trip i got talking with my in-laws and realized they were headed down to st. george that weekend as well so my wonderful uncle let us all stay in his guest house for the weekend. thanks kevin and nancy!
thursday

we spent most the day driving and settling in

getting settled in

the workout area

the pool area

and hot tub area

friday

we spent the day riding out around sand hollow, on our drive down we past a neighborhood where every home had an airplane in their garage! you can see their runway through the neighborhood

riding some trails

ken took this picture...i really liked it because this arch seems as if it were hundreds of feet high when really it's no more than 12"

break time

kenley and preston

kenley

preston

melissa and i found some heart shaped rocks

on our walk we found this slot canyon, pictures don't do justice but hopefully you can get the idea how steep and high it really is

through the canyon we found some climbing gear

driving along a trail we came across some old black lava rocks all over these mountains

saturday

we took a drive out to zions national park, it was snowy, rainy, and cold but still a beautiful place

mel & wood

do you see the mini snowman?

hang out saturday evening

sunday

a look around the guest house before we head home

my uncle's beautiful home

A few little random things...

2010-02-11T17:20:00.000-08:00

A Valentine Gift
The other day my mom stopped by and dropped off this beautiful wreath that she made! I've been wanting something for my front door, and now I have this adorable little heart wreath!
Fun with food

I found a recipe for a Frozen Lemon Whip with Blueberry Sauce on one of my cooking shows. This recipe looked delicious but I'm not a fan of blueberries and neither is Kenley. So, I substituted the blueberries with raspberries, and I think it turned out really good!

Projects

My uncle is a collector! A collector of EVERYTHING, that I don't know where he stores all his collections. One day he asked if I was in the need of some frames, and if you know me at all then you know I love pictures! I have so many around my house. So he gave me all these frames, and some of them might not look too appealing but I have many projects planned for those frames. Here is my first project I worked on. What do you think?

Before...

After...

Cox Family Pictures

2010-02-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

This post is quite past due. We had the Family pictures taken back in November last year, but I thought I'd still post the pictures because I absolutely adore my nieces and nephews pictures. (Kids are always so cute!)

Cox Family

Preston & Melissa Cox

Mansfield Family

Olivia

Meredith

GeorgeCox Family

Hayley & Zoey

Zoey Kenley & Melissa Cox

The 10 Commandments to a Happy Marriage

2010-01-04T17:49:00.000-08:00

1. Thou shalt always remember that thy is a partnership between thee and thy spouse and the Lord. For in knowing this, thou wilt have the strength, courage, and determination to conquer all challenges that may come into thy marriage.

2. Thou shalt cleave unto thy spouse and let not thine eyes wander, nor do anything like unto it. For it is through fidelity and commitment that thou shalt find confidence and trust.

3. Thou shalt not be selfish with thy time, nor with thy money, nor with anything else that is thine. For in doing this thou shalt avoid resentment and find harmony.

4. Thou shalt remember that thy parents are good, but need to give thee space in thy marriage. For it is through relying upon each other that communication and unity is formed.

5. Thou shalt always remember to call thy spouse sweetheart, honey, or whatever else that makes them happy and to remember the little things. For it is through little acts of kindness that thou shalt find love and tenderness.

6. Thou shalt remember to always use kind words and cease to find fault with thy spouse. For in doing this thou shalt find peace.

7. Thou shalt enjoy each others company and remember to date often. For it is in spending time together that one truly gets to know their spouse and find intimacy.

8. Thou shalt add the words "I'm sorry" to thy vocabulary and use them often. For in doing this thou shalt melt down the barriers of anger and resentment and find mutual forgiveness.

9. Thou shalt recognize and acknowledge the desires, efforts and accomplishments of thy spouse. For in this thou shalt find appreciation and gratitude for one another.

10. Thou shalt live within thy means and learn the difference between wants and needs. For in doing this thou shalt avoid needless stress and find contentment.

-Author Unknown

Christmas 09

2010-01-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Kenley and I went to my parents for dinner along with Ashley and my Grandparents. I hadn't been over for Christmas Eve since I had moved out of my parents home so it had been a while but it was a ton of fun! Sadly, Kenley and I forgot our camera that night but it was a wonderful night.
After my parents we stopped by Katy and Nate's (where Kenley's side of the family was having their Christmas Eve dinner) Kenley's parents surprised the three families with our new Lumix camera's! It's the camera Kenley's been eyeing for the past while now so we were pretty excited!!!

Here are some pictures of Christmas 09' with our new camera

My kitchen theme is chef's and ever since we moved into our home I've been looking for a cute lil chef calender and luckily my mother in-law finally found one!!! (along with chef towels and oven mitts!)

My adorable niece Zoey on her first Christmas

George and Papa on his first Christmas

Mia and Me

Zoey and Melissa

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

09 Christmas Tree

2009-12-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

I Love our Christmas tree this year. It's perfect. I wish there was some way to have this exact tree every year - Don't get me wrong, I love the fresh tree's but this tree is exactly what we want.

It's kinda funny - last year while we were hanging lights on the tree we ran out so we had to run up to the store to buy a few more strands. This year we had to do the same thing! Ha ha I think I may get a lil carried away with those lights, ha ha but I love it.

Christmas Tree 2009

Again, Christmas came mighty early for Kenley this year. He got a new La-Z-Boy about a month ago for Christmas. It is something he's been wanting for years now! (Even before we were married.) Seeing how Kenley has been working so hard with school and doing so great I got him his Laz-Z-Boy.

Late Nights

2009-12-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Kenley finished his last finals for this semester and he was so thrilled! All last night he kept saying: "I don't have to do any homework!" We are both really excited that he's done with this semester. It has been his worst one. He was up late so many nights working on homework. And now for the next few weeks he gets to relax, and take it easy with no school. I'm so proud of the hard work he's done through school so far. He's worked so hard and never taken a semester off and next April it will all pay off. He'll finally graduate with his Bachelors degree in Technical Sales. Good job Kenley! You're almost there!! Just one more semester!

Every night that Kenley was working late on the computer our little kitty would sit there with him the whole time. It was so funny, she would just sit there and watch him work for hours!

Halloween 09

2009-11-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

Pickin up the pumpkins

This year we reached a record high for carving up to 188 pumpkins.
Some Halloween carvings...
This year Josh and I did the Twilight saga again, but we added all 4 book cover pictures with the titles as well as some character pictures.

We put Edward and Bella next to the Twilight title and book cover picture

(you can see the New Moon book cover pumpkin)

And next to the New Moon title and book cover picture we made a Jacob as himself and a Jacob as a wolf

A look back...

While Wood and I were carving pumpkins we couldn't help but remember Halloween 2 years ago...

Lake Powell

2009-10-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of our Lake Powell trip we took the last week of September. As always it was a lot of fun! Weather wasn't the best that we've had it before. It started out great, sunny and warm but by mid-week it got a lil insane with the wind. Things were flyin off the house boat, ahh it was bad. Luckily that only lasted a day. But after our lil windstrom the weather dropped about 20 degrees for the rest of the week. Bath time!!! Grandma and baby Zoey Sister and Brother LoveGrandma and baby GeorgeWindy Wednesday
Spa Day Heading home :(

New Moon Countdown

2009-10-19T16:36:00.001-07:00

Fleming Family Pictures

2009-09-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

Wood & Mel

Fleming Family

Chad & Jill Fleming

James & Jennifer Davis
Davis kids
Jeff & Rebecca Forsgren

Forsgren kids

Kenley & Melissa Cox

Ashley Fleming

Fleming girls

another lil update

2009-08-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

This summer has been an interesting one. In mid June I was layed off from my work. (stupid economy!) I was pretty stressed and upset for a couple of weeks but Ken finally helped me realize that it's something that is just happening all around us. On the up side I figure this way I can find a better job, one I enjoy going to every morning, and one that is closer to my home. (I really hated the drive to Salt Lake - especially during rush hour!)

In a way, loosing my job worked out for us this summer. Ken and I had a lot of trips we wanted to take but when I was working I really was limited to the amount of days I could take off. And this way we were able to go everywhere we wanted to this summer, so it was actually really fun!

One thing we did alot was camping. We both love camping so much, it's great to get away from the everyday-life and relax for a couple of days. (Ahhh I am sad camping season is almost over.)

We celebrated our big One Year Anniversary in June! It is still so crazy that we have been married over a year now! Being married is amazing, I love every moment. I Love you so much babe!

Something else really exciting and different also happened this summer. One of Kenley's best friends, Zacch, got baptized. It was really neat because Zacch asked Kenley to baptize him. It was so great to see how much Zacch has changed these past couple of months. Congrats Zacch!

After Zacch's baptism we had a lil get-together at our house for him. What I remember most about my baptism is getting together with the family and friends afterwords to celebrate. And since Zacch is the only convert from his family, Ken and I wanted him to still be able to celebrate this wonderful occasion with all his friends.

Another really exciting thing...I became the Aunt of another niece. My sister in-law Hayley, had her first baby girl on August 2nd. I am so happy for Cort and Hayley, they have a beautiful baby girl. Both Hayley and little Zoey are doing great!!!

bet you haven't heard this before!

2009-08-21T17:12:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house it had a green roof! An ugly green roof. People knew our as the "white house with a green roof." We've always hated it and wanted to change it, so what did we do? We re-painted our roof! Have you ever heard of painting your roof? Haa I sure hadn't, but I guess because we have an aluminum roof that's what you do. So we now have a charcoal color roof that makes it looks so much better and not stand out like crazy! Do you like it better too?

The old ugly green roof...
...and with our roof repainted

2009-07-17T14:22:00.001-07:00

Happy Anniversary

2009-07-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

June 27th Kenley and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary! It's been the best year of my life, so far. Being married is the best thing ever! I am so lucky to have Kenley forever, I am so excited for the rest of my life because I have Kenley by my side.

15 months later

2009-06-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Kenley and I have now owned our house for 15 months! It's crazy the amount of project we have completed throughout the past year, but even crazier to think about all the projects left with this house. Here are some pictures of this we have done this year with our home!

Front room remodeling
Before...

After...

Kitchen before and during...

Even after all the painting and re-wallpapering we still had pink in our kitchen...

...but that didn't last too long!

Kitchen After...

Last year the city put curb, gutter and a sidewalk down our street. But because our property is a foot higher than the sidewalk, we had to put up a retaining wall. It was a big project but we had a lot of help and it looks a lot better now!

A look at our house before we had sidewalk.

And after Bathroom remodeling!

Before...

I don't know if I have said this before but our bathroom and kitchen came in pink! I mean pink walls, doors, wallpaper...etc

Bathroom After...

For our bathroom remodeling I took down the ugly pink wallpaper, textured the walls and painted the walls brown. (I also painted the trim and doors white!)

Bedroom remodeling

Before...

During...

This is wallpaper! Taking down the wallpaper in our bedroom was the biggest mess! I swear the previous owners were wallpaper lovers - just in our bedroom I swear there were 7 layers of wallpaper!!!

Bedroom After...

Dad's Day

2009-06-14T21:12:00.001-07:00

I wanted to take some time to express my love and appreciation for both my father and father in-law. I am so grateful to have these two wonderful fathers in my life. Happy Father's Day!

Baby time...

2009-04-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

It's a BOY!!!
George Nathan Mansfield is 8 lbs 1 oz and 22 inches long!
Congrats to Katie and Nate. They had their thrid child this afternoon (only 3 hours ago) and their first baby boy! Both mommy and baby are doing great!

Congrats also to Hayley, she is expecting her little girl in late July early August. We are so glad that everything is healthy with you two as well!!!